This invention relates to methods and means for protecting roadways from water damage at their expansion joints, and more particularly to apparatuses that install a length of a leak protecting arrangement at the joints between adjacent segments of suspended roadways.
Expansion joints for roadway sections, bridges, parking decks and the like relieve stresses caused by thermal expansion and contraction of the structures. Recently developed expansion joints not only allow for thermal expansion and contraction but also prevent rain and other roadway substances which may leak through the joints from damaging the materials of the roadway and the underlying supportive superstructure.
Such leak protective expansion joints can add years to predicted life of a roadway and save in its maintenance and repair costs.
However, most existing bridges and roadways today were built prior to the development of leak protective expansion joints. As a result, road and bridge authorities face a choice between the cost of retrofitting their bridges and roadways with run-off prevention expansion joints and the cost of repairing and maintaining such structure without such a retrofit. Existing retrofitting methods and means are comparatively complex, time consuming, and expensive.